Anyone have any comments about products from Arnold-Rivarossi? I’ve never purchased any of their locos before, and was wondering what experiences others have had with their products, with regards to quality, durability, realism, etc.
Some are worse that anyone could conceive, some are excellent; with regards to the three areas you listed.
Nigel’s right.
I have 4 Rivarossi locomotives from the 1960’s & 70’s
Only 2 still run. My 4-4-0 & my 0-4-0 w/tender.
Which isn’t bad considering their age.
Gordon
I have 5 Rivarossi’s two that are from the 70’s A Berkshire and Big Boy ,Both are useless as a result of poorly made motors. A have a 80’s version of the Berkshire which is a far improvement over its predecessors, however it’s still “cheap” and nothing more than middle of the road.
I also have their Allegheny and FEF-3, which I consider to be the best two Locomotives in my roster at this time. These are both excellent units.
You don’t mention what scale you’re interested in, EJEman, but I’ve got the N scale Alco S2, purchased about two years ago.
Realism: absolutely first rate (I get to compare it frequently with the real thing–it’s a fine model in that respect)
Durability: it’s survived a couple of falls off the layout (thankfully, my train room is carpeted!)
Quality: runs fair to middling (although this may be due in part to the falls noted above). It was a very rough and noisy runner at first, and stalled at the slightest hint of dirt on the wheels or track. I’ve fiddled with it a bit, and it does seem to be loosening up with age (a bit like me). It’s a heavy model (metal body) and can pull anything.
I model in N-scale. Thanks for the input!